Monsters: The Lyle & Erik Menendez Story has garnered a lot of attention due to what the real Menendez brothers have said about Ryan Murphy’s adaptation. Netflix just released their second season of Monster, which covers notorious true crime incidents in a fictionalized setting. Monsters: The Lyle & Erik Menendez Story recounts the deaths of José and Kitty Menendez at the hands of their children, Lyle and Erik Menendez. According to the prosecution, Lyle and Erik Menendez killed their parents because they were motivated by money, while the Menendez brothers insisted that their parents sexually abused them.

Both seasons of Monster have done really well with Netflix audiences—M onster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story became the third Netflix show to reach an important milestone of one billion hours watched within the first 60 days. However, despite the massive success Monster received from Netflix viewers, the show is notorious for the backlash it receives from various sources. Monsters: The Lyle & Erik Menendez Story recently received criticism from Erik Menendez himself, directed at Ryan Murphy and Netflix’s portrayal of the ordeal.

Erik Menendez Has Accused Ryan Murphy’s Monsters Show Of Inaccurately Portraying Their Story

Ryan Murphy Has Set Back Decades Of Progress On How Child Sexual Assault Survivors Are Perceived

Erik Menendez recently criticized Monsters: The Lyle & Erik Menendez Story on the Menendez Brothers’ Facebook page, particularly focusing on Ryan Murphy’s portrayal of the brothers. Menendez felt that Murphy did a disservice to their story, creating an adaptation with malicious intent. He said that Murphy “created a caricature of Lyle rooted in horrible and blatant lies rampant in the show,” and Netflix’s portrayal of the brothers was “dishonest” and “painful.” Erik Menendez goes as far as to say that this adaptation “takes several steps backward.”

Erik Menendez believes that the show promotes the prosecution’s story, “a narrative [built] on a belief system that males were not sexually abused, and that males experienced rape trauma differently than women.” Lyle and Erik Menendez have continued to voice their opinions of the adaptation on their Facebook page, focusing on Ryan Murphy’s exploitation of Lyle and Erik Menendez’s childhood trauma. They post their opinions on each episode, explaining what is and is not accurate. Although Lyle or Erik does not run the Facebook page, these are still their opinions, and someone close to them manages their social media.

Monsters Has Received Backlash For Implications About Lyle & Erik Menendez’s Relationship

Monsters Suggests Lyle & Erik Had An Incestuous Relationship

Monsters: The Lyle & Erik Menendez Story also received a lot of backlash for suggesting there was more to Erik and Lyle’s relationship. Ryan Murphy added the storyline of Lyle sexually abusing Erik, and the brothers also share a kiss in season 2, episode 2, “Spree.” Furthermore, in Monster season 2, episode 7, “Showtime,” a journalist suggests that Erik and Lyle had an incestuous relationship, even showing a hypothetical scene of Erik and Lyle showering intimately together. The brothers were hypersexualized in the adaptation, which is a gross injustice in portraying their story, especially considering the sexual abuse they endured.

How Monsters’ Lyle & Erik Menendez Backlash Compares To Season 1’s Jeffrey Dahmer Controversy

Ryan Murphy Has A Pattern Of Wronging The Victims In Different Ways

Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story also received a lot of backlash, but not for the same reasons as the second season. Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story received backlash for several reasons, but primarily because the victims’ families did not want this show to move forward. They were vehemently against the adaptation from the beginning, even more so after Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story omits facts about the serial killer to humanize him more. Netflix also received widespread criticism for tagging Monster as LGBTQ+, although they have since removed it.

On the other hand, Monsters: The Lyle & Erik Menendez Story primarily received criticism from the titular roles of Erik and Lyle Menendez. They endured traumatic sexual abuse as children, and the adaptation favors the prosecution’s side of the story despite including the trauma. Ryan Murphy’s adaptation only hints at the sexual abuse, which suggests the brothers made up their trauma entirely. It is quite clear that Ryan Murphy’s adaptations of true crime stories are motivated by appealing to mass audiences; there is no care or sensitivity to those involved.

Ryan Murphy should pay attention to the true crime debate Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story ignited and incorporate feedback into the show’s third season.

Technically, Monster did fix some criticism in its second season, but the show ignited a new slew of criticism. While Monster season 2 focused on the justice system, it only did so to favor the prosecution, ignoring Lyle and Erik’s story. Monster season 3 plans to cover serial killer Ed Gein, and it is imperative that Ryan Murphy consults with the victims’ families and listens to the criticisms in order to create a respectful adaptation. Ryan Murphy should pay attention to the true crime debate Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story ignited and incorporate feedback into the show’s third season.